HEY GUYS I GOT THE SEAT OUT OF MY 51 I PICKED UP ON MONDAY. AND GOT IT ALL CLEANED OUT AND CHECKED OUT THE FLOOR. IT HAS A FEW SMALL HOLES BUT NOTHING MAJOR. I WANT TO START MESSING IN THE MOTOR. THE OIL FILL TUBE HAS NO CAP ON IT AND NOTHING PROTECTING IT. THE CAR AND AIR CLEANER ARE BOTH GONE BUT THEY WAS VERY WELL PROTECTED. THE DIPSTICK IS GONE. I RAN A STICK DOWN IN THERE AND IT CAME OUT WITH THE OIL IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE BUT IT DEFINITLY HAD SOME MOISTURE IN IT. MY QUESTIONS ARE.

1)WHAT SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT WITH THE WATER IN THE OIL?

2)WHERE SHOULD I START TO SEE IF I CAN GET THIS 60 YEAR OLF FLATTIE BACK TO LIFE.

 

Change the oil. And turn off your all caps, please.

 

^^^ What Wayne said.

After you change the oil:

Does the engine turn over? It everything electrical hooked up or did the po dismantle everything as he was stealing parts from it?

Do you have a shop manual so you can follow the wiring diagrams for starting and charging systems? If not, you're going to need one. Ebay. $35

At a minimum new plugs and good battery - Autolite 216 is my personal preference. Stock these were 6V Positive ground - backwards from today's 12V Neg grnd but they can be easily changed. What is your truck at present.

edit: Hoiler makes a great point.Don't even try to start it without an inline filter on the fuel line. Also I'd go thru the carb with solvent to clean any varnish out. Fuel lines - most are full of crud and are easy to replace with new.

 

change the engine oil,and if the engine has not been run for a long time ,you might want to pull the plugs and soak the cyliders with crc then crank engine over by hand -check the fuel tank if any fuel has been left in tank -drain it-clean it and seal it !!

 

The next steps depend a lot on where you want to go with your engine and how much you may already know about the condition of your flathead. For example, do you know if it was in running condition recently in the past, does the engine turn over freely? Before I would spend a lot of time and money on replacing parts, I would first want to make sure I have a good sound block to work with. Flatheads are notorious for cracks in the blocks, many of which can be repaired. Cracked blocks though are difficult to troubleshoot without removing the heads.

If you want to move forward with trying to at least get it running and you have most of the parts to do it still with the engine, I would suggest you approach a checkout by stepping through it mechanically, electrically, and then the fuel system.

After you drain/replace the oil, if the engine can turn over, I would suggest oiling the cylinders and then doing a quick compression check. That will tell you much about the pistons/valves/cam. If mechanically these items look acceptable, then move to the electrical checks (plugs, wires, points, distributor, coil). Then the fuel system (tank, lines, pump, carb). When doing my 239 flathead rebuild, I bought a cheap book online that gave a step by step approach to moving through the rebuild process. Very valuable in my opinion.

Good luck,
Fred

 

As easy as it is to pull the oil pan on these trucks, and in view of the crankcase having been open, I would pull the oil pan. You'll be able to see if there's a line of rust in the pan where any water was, you can see if any antifreeze is in there (indicating a cracked block or other malady), and you can clean out any sludge that may be in there. In short, you can tell a lot with little effort. If there is sludge everywhere, you'll know better than to try running it before a vatting.

 

Guys thank you all for your help and opinions. The truck was parked back in 1968 because they couldnt get it to start. but i took the seat out last night and discovered a bunch of electrical parts. the fuel filter the high beam switch the starter solenoid etc. and a extra distributor cap, wires and plugs. i took the intake header off last night. the springs look good and there is no rust in the air ports. i think i am going to go ahead and tear the truck all the way down to the bare frame. where can i get the 12v wiring?

 

You'll have more questions along the way on your flathead if you tear things all the way down. These guys are the flathead experts - and a bunch of super people as well...

Ford Flathead V8 .. 1932 thru 1953 • Index page

 

I used an EZ wiring 21 circuit kit

 

I would recommend trying to get it running before tearing it down, unless you are going to replace the engine. That way you know what condition it is in.

Paul

 

I was thinkin of completely tearing down and rebuilding the motor. Is there any reason to make it run first

 

If the rest of the truck is ready to roll, and you confirm there's nothing major wrong with the engine, no reason not to drive it a while. Rebuilding any engine isn't cheap any more, if it isn't needed, save up for it. But if you are doing a complete resto, you'll likely want to freshen the engine eventually. It can't hurt to pull the heads so you can mike the bores, see if it's already bored and to what O/S, see how much ridge there is, and whether the block is cracked. If you want trouble-free running cleaning out the coolant passages is a big help. Just decide where you want to go with it.